Combined sieve drum and tentering apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for treating textile material comprising a sieve drum device operatively associated with a tentering device, wherein the textile material is heated up uniformly over its width on at least one sieve drum means and is held stretched to the desired width by said tentering device. The tentering device has tentering means disposed in a housing which is separate from the sieve drum device and is arranged behind the sieve drum device at a distance therefrom. The textile material is surrounded, on its way to the tentering means, by duct means which is heat-insulated and is arranged between the sieve drum device and the tentering device.

Uited States Patent 1 1 1 1 3,906,596 Fleissner Sept. 23, 1975 1541COMBINED SIEVE DRUM AND TENTERING 3,758,960 9/1973 McCreary et al 34/158x APPARATUS FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 lnvemorl Heinz Fleissner,Frankfurt am Main, 2,006,065 8/1971 Germany 26/60 Germ ny 964,934 7/1964United Kingdom 139/291 R [73] Assignee: Vepa AG, Switzerland OTHERPUBLICATIONS [22] Filed: Feb. 12, 1973 Textured Yarn Technology/Vol, 2Stretch Yarn Ma- [211 App]. No: 331,471 chines, Monsanto Company, 1967,pp. 6466.

Woodhouse, Thomas, The Finishing of Jute & Lmen Fabrics, Manchester,Emmot & Co. Ltd., 1916, pp. [30] Foreign Application Priority Data 1Feb. 23, 1972 Germany 2208375 Feb. 10, 1972 Germany 2206254 primaryExaminer ROben Mackcy Feb. 10, 1972 Germany 2208375 Attorney, Agent, orp c i & 11i

[52] US. Cl. 26/60; 26/57 A; 26/59;

34/115; 34/158; 68/DIG, 5 [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. D06C 3/02; DO6C3/06 An apparatus for treating textile material comprising a [58] Fieldof Search 68/DIG. 5; 26/59, 60, 57 A; sieve drum device operativelyassociated with a tenter 34/115, 158, 23, 68; 139/291 R ing device,wherein the textile material is heated up uniformly over its width on atleast one sieve drum [56] References Cited means and is held stretchedto the desired width by UN E S S PATENTS said tentering device. Thetentering device has tenter- 1392 939 0/192, Hathaway l39/291R ing meansdisposed in a housing which is separate 1:749:584 3/1930 26/60 X fromthe sieve drum device and is arranged behind the 2,076,773 4/1937 Hatter139/29] R sieve drum device at a distance therefrom. The textile2,896,335 7/1959 D l 34/63 material is surrounded, on its way to thetentering 3,021,607 2/1962 Fleissner 26/60 UX means, by duct means whichis heat-insulated and is 3,440,736 4/1969 Fleissner et al /l arrangedbetween the sieve drum device and the tent- 3,503,134 3/1970 Fleissner26/60 X ering i 3,515,174 6/1970 Herkenberg... 139/291 R 3,605,2809/1971 Fleissner 34/158 X 13 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures US Patent Sept.23,1975 Sheet'10 f2 3,906,596

Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 2 of 2 3,906,596

" US Pat nt COMBINED SIEVE DRUM AND TENTERING APPARATUS This inventionrelates to an apparatus for treating textile material which includes asieve drum device and a subsequent tentering device, wherein thematerial which has been heated up uniformly over its width on the sievedrum or sieve drums is held stretched to the desired width.

The combination of a sieve drum machine with a tentering frame isconventional. This combination is considered advantageous, because thesieve drum is the only heat treatment system on which web-shaped material can be treated rapidly and completely uniformly over its width atany desired temperature. On this drum device, the material cannot beheld in its width. This machine has the disadvantage that it isimpossible to ensure that the material leaves the sieve drum devicealways with an exact width. Although it is possible to extend atentering unit about the last sieve drum or about several sieve drums,such a system is relatively complicated in its construction and thusexpensive to manufacture.

Therefore, it has been suggested to dispose an apparatus customary inthis special field, namely a tenter frame means, at the outlet of thesieve drum device and to pass the textile material after discharge fromthe sieve drum device directly into the tentering frame means. From aconstructional viewpoint, the problem of producing such an apparatus canbe solved, though with increased expenditure. However, difficulties areencountered in its operation. It is unavoidable that the operator nowand then must interfere with the operation of the tentering deviceparticularly in the mounting of the web material on the pins and mustassist in the pinning of the material, which otherwise takes placeautomatically, by manually performing this step. However, this isdifficult to do in a device of the aforementioned type, since thepinning assemblies are hard to reach, on the other hand, and atemperature of up to 250C. is ambient therein, on the other hand.Therefore. in order to eliminate disturbances, the device would have tobe cooled down, which results in a considerable heat loss andfurthermore in a time loss disadvantageous for the production of thematerial to be treated.

This invention is based on the problem of overcomingthe deficiencies ofsuch a system. The apparatus of the invention is satisfactorily operableat all times; the material which is at least heated up on a sieve drummust cool down only to a slight extent until the material is pinned tothe tentering means; and an auxiliary adjustment by hand is madepossible at any time without resulting in appreciable heat loss and timeconsumption.

According to the invention, this problem is solved by providing that thetentering means is arranged in a housing separate from that of the sievedrum means and the housing has a transitionally wide spacing from thesieve drum means, and is disposed behind the sieve drum means; and that,furthermore, the textile material, on its way to the pinning station ofthe tenter means, is surrounded by a duct which is heat-insulated, ifpossible, and extends below or above the transitional zone. Thisconstruction makes it possible for an operator to monitor the pinningoperation and, if necessary, interfere therewith (i.e. regulate oradjust), without having to enter the treatment atmosphere proper, therebeing no need for cooling the sieve drum means or the tentering framemeans. A short-term manual intervention is possible at any time. evenduring the operation of this apparatus.

This concept accomplishing the above-mentioned task can be constructedin an advantageous manner. A tentering device is conventional which issubdivided into a heating section and a treatment section.Advantageously, the air fed to the sieve drum device is now withdrawn,as hot air, from the tentering device via air conduits. The waste air ofthe hot air circulated in the tentering device/after passing over theweb material held in the chains, is fed to the sieve drum device asfresh air.

It is particularly advantageous to extend the air conduits intotheoutlet zone of the duct leading into the tentering device, so thatthe hot air branched off from the tentering device flows through theduct, circum venting the pinning area, counter-currently to thetraveling material entering the tentering device, thus pre venting thematerial from being cooled down or permitting the material to'be cooledonly slightly, in order to then be available for the sieve drum as hotfeed air. These measures make it possible to utilize the heating energyeconomically, as if the tentering device and the sieve drum device werea single machine. However, at the same time, the provision is obtainedthat a quiet atmosphere exists in the zone of the pinning section of thetentering device, which can be tolerated by an operator assisting in theoperation. For in this area, only the material will be moving, while thesurrounding air will exhibit a high turbulence: only in the sectiondirectly following the air jet blowing portion of the tentering device.The airjet blowing portion can be ofa relatively short length, since aslight cooling of the material will occur only on the way from thedischarge end of the sieve drum "via the duct to the location where thematerial is placed on the pins; thus, the heating efficiency need onlybe minor. Besides, the material will pass through the tentering framealso in a uniformly heated condition, since the material has beenuniformly heated on the sieve drum device and a nonuniform cooling overits width during transition to the tentering device is no longerpermitted.

The tentering device utilized in the abovedescribed arrangement has beenknown for a long time, and is now being employed in practice in largenumbers. The constructions thereof are of a great variety of types. Mostfrequently encountered are nozzle tentering frames wherein the heatedair is applied by means of nozzles to both sides of the material. In anyevent, this device serves for the heat treatment of web-shaped materialwhich must be held or tensioned at a specific width during this heatingstep. After the heat treatment, the material, which has been thermosoled(i.e. disperse dyed and heat-fixed) or thermofixed, for example, must becooled in the tentering or holding means, so that the dimensions of thematerial and thus the fiber condition obtained during the heat treatmentare set.

It is customary to conduct the tensioning chains of the tentering means,for this purpose, through a cooling zone consisting of one or morecooling compartments or a hood inverted over the material, by means ofwhich, in a concentrated manner and with the aid of a fan, ambient airis blown onto both sides of the material. Such a cooling device does notonly occupy a large amount of space at the outlet of the tenteringframe, it also extends the length of the frame by a considerable degree.Furthermore, the cooling effect of this arrangement is unsatisfactory. 7

Therefore, in a further development of the basic idea of this invention,it is suggested to construct the cooling device from a sieve drum undera suction draft, around which the tentering means including thetensioning chains and mounting pins are wrapped. In a suitable manner,the guiding device at the end of the tenter frame, which is necessaryanyway in such a frame for turning the chains of the tentering means, isconstructed as a sieve drum under a suction draft, so that the sievedrum can advantageously be wrapped about by the material by more thanabout 180. Due to the high throughflow effect possible with the aid of asieve drum, the cooling efficiency, in spite of small dimensions of thecooling unit, is entirely sifficient for any speed at which a tenterframe is operated. As is known, the degree of efficiency of athroughflow treatment on a sieve drum is unsurpassed, since, with smallexternal dimensions of the device, the treatment is carried out veryintensively.

The tentering device of the apparatus of this invention can be fashionedas a simple tenter frame. However, it is particularly advantageous toform the tentering device of sieve drum tenter frames.

Such 'a' machine arrangement is advantageous especially in case thematerial is to be held in the tentering device not only in its widthover the brief fixing period, but also during the heating to the fixingtemperature. Thus, the drying unit and the fixing device canadvantageously be separated from each other, although the machinearrangement per se is a unit. Thus, an apparatus has been found whichoperates in an economically optimal manner and causes low initialinvestment costs. By subdividing the arrangement into two machines, anadjustment of the efficiency is more readily obtainable. Also, a cleartemperature separation can be effected between the drying unit and thefixing device.

It is certainly also advantageous to guide the tentering chains likewiseabout the sieve drum device, as has already been suggested. However, insuch a case, the dryer and the fixing unit should also be disposedseparately from each other, in order to be able to operate at accuratefixing periods, especially in the fixing unit.

Additional details of the arrangement and construction of the inventioncan be seen from the description of the apparatus shown as embodimentsin the accompanying drawings; wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an apparatus including a sieve drum device arrangedwith a normal tenter frame;

FIG. 2 shows an apparatus having a sieve drum de vice with a sieve drumtenter frame as the tentering or tensioning means; and

FIG. 3 shows an apparatus having a sieve drum device and a tenteringdevice arranged so that the material is held in its width in the dryingsection and in the fixing compartment.

The drawing in FIG. 1, shows an apparatus consisting of a sieve drumdevice 1 and a tenter frame device 2. The sieve drum device 1, as inconventional sieve drum devices, is formed of several sieve drums lrotatably disposed in a treatment chamber; from above and below thedrums, air is fed and is uniformly distributed via perforated plates 3.The air is heated by means of heating units 4. The air flows through thesieve drums by the effect of fans 5 arranged at the front side of eachdrum in a fan chamber.

The textile material 6 is discharged from the sieve drum device, whichis heated uniformly to the treatment temperature at least by the lastsieve drum, is not discharged from the sieve drum device 1 at the usualmaterial outlet denoted by 7, but rather, with the material outlet 7being closed, via a heat-insulated duct 8 leaving space between thesieve drum device and the tentering device for operating personnel. Thenthe material is fed to the inlet section 9 of the tentering device 2. Inthis inlet section, the material is pinned, with the air of thecustomary pinning-in elements 10, to the tenter frame chains 2 and thenconveyed into the heating section 11 and brought to the desired width.Shielding members 19 separate the pinning-in zone from the heatingsection. The hinges at the tenter frame necessary for tensioning thematerial to the desired width are denoted by 12. The portion wherein thetentering means extend in parallel to each other follows the heatingsection and is denoted by 13. Means (not shown) are provided forsupplying heated air to section 11.

At the outlet of the tenter frame device, a sieve drum 14 is provided inplace of a customary guide roller for the tentering (and mounting)means; the inner chamber of this sieve drum is under a suction draft dueto a fan 15 arranged at one end face. The tentering means is extendedabout the sieve drum and is held displaceably in the axial direction ofthe drum. The material 6 is guided around the sieve drum while stillbeing held in the tentering means and is thus exposed to an intensivethrough-flow of cold ambient air. The consequence thereof is aninstantaneous cooling of the material and thus a setting of thecondition of the fiber forming the material. After the material hastraveled in contact with the sieve drum for more than about it isdetached from the tentering means with the aid of a pinning-out rollerand passed on to a subsequent machine for further treatment.

The hot air conducted to the heating section 11 for heating the materialto the treatment temperature is fed, via pipes or the like 16, afterblowing on the material held in the chains of the tentering means, tothe outlet section of the duct 8 and blown into the duct 8counter-currently to the arriving material 6. Thus, the duct 8 ismaintained at the treatment temperature and an excessive cooling of thematerial during its conveyance to the tentering device is avoided. Thehot air flowing to the sieve drum simultaneously serves as the fresh airnecessary for the treatment, which, however, has now been heated. A goodenergy balance is the consequence of this feature.

In order to be able to intervene, during the pinning of the materialinto the tentering device, in the operation of the apparatus without anygreat expenditure in time or energy, a flap 17 is provided in thepinning-in zone of the tentering device 2; this flap has a window or isproduced in its entirety from a transparent material. In case of adisturbance of the automatically effected pinning operation, it ismerely necessary to pivot the flap 17 about the joint 18, whereupon thepinning elements are immediately accessible, without having to cool thetenter frame.

FIG. 2 shows an arrangement of a sieve drum device 1 and a sieve drumtenter frame 2. In this apparatus, it is advantageous to effect thedrying and fixing operations separately from each other, namelytoconduct the drying steponly in the sieve drum device 1 and. toconduct'the heatingto the fixing temperature and the fixing properon-the sieve drum tenter frame 2 (which includessieve drum l9);in-contrast thereto, in the arrangement of FIG. I, the heating totthefixing temperature could also be effected inthe sieve drum device. Bythe exact separation of the drying unit from the fixing unit, accuratetemperature conditions can now be maintained,-.and the fixing times canbe optimally adjusted.

The same advantages exist in the arrangement of FIG. 3, wherein thedrying means in the form of a sieve drum tentering device 1 is likewiseseparated from the fixing means 2 (also in the form of a sieve drumtentering means). However, in this apparatus, the tentering chains arewrapped about both heat treatment units, each including a sieve drumunder a suction draft.

Between the drying unit and the fixing unit, in the duct 8 connectingthe two devices or in the inlet section of the tentering means accordingto FlG. 2, elements can be provided which compensate for a possible skewor bow in the material. Such elements can be, for example, an endlessbelt disposed underneath the material in parallel thereto which,depending on the orientation of the material between the chains, can bedriven at a lower or higher speed.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus comprising a sieve drum device having a treatmentchamber and at least one sieve drum means disposed in said treatmentchamber, said sieve drum device being operatively associated with atentering device, wherein a textile material which has been heated upuniformly over its width by passing heated air therethrough on said atleast one sieve drum means within the treatment chamber of said drumdevice is subsequently held stretched to the desired width by saidtentering device, the tentering device including a housing which isseparate from the sieve drum device and which is arranged behind thesieve drum device at a distance therefrom, a tentering means disposed insaid housing, and a pinning-in means for pinning the textile material tosaid tentering means, said pinning-in means being located near saidtentering means in a pinning-in zone within said housing; means fortransporting said textile material from said sieve drum device to saidtentering means; duct means for surrounding the textile material on itsway to said tentering means via said means for transporting said textilematerial, said duct means being heat-insulated and being arranged to 1extend from the sieve drum device to the tentering means so that theduct means, the sieve drum device, and the housing of said tenteringdevice define a space therebetween for operating personnel; an accessopening in the housing leading to said pinningin zone, and means forsealing said opening during operation of said pinning-in means and forpermitting operating personnel access to said pinning-in means during adisturbance of the pinning operation.

2. The apparatus of claim ll, wherein the means for sealing said openingis a flap vacating the pinning-in zone.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the flap has a window which is madeof a transparent material.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tentering device includes sievedrum means with a tentering chain extending therearound.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein control means for compensating forskewing or bowing of the textile material are provided in front. of thesieve drum means of the tentering device. I

6. The apparatus of claims, whereinsaid control means'corn'prise meansassociated with and underneath the textile'mat'erialin paralleltherewith7,: An apparatus comprising a sieve drum device operatively associatedwith a'tentering device; wherein a textile material which has beenheated up uniformily overits'width by passing heated air therethrough onat least one sieve drum means within said drum device is subsequentlyheld stretched to the desired width by said tentering device, thetentering device including a housing which is separate from the sievedrum device and which is arranged behind the sieve drum device at adistance therefrom and a tentering means disposed in said housing; meansfor transporting said textile material from said sieve drum device tosaid tentering means and duct means for surrounding the textile materialon its way to said tentering means, said duct means being heat'insulatedand being arranged between the sieve drum device and the tenteringdevice, said tentering device including a heating section and atreatment section, and air conduits extending from the heating sectionto the duct means which communicates with the sieve drum device forintroducing heated air from said heating section into said duct meansand into said sieve drum device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the air conduits are extended intoan outlet zone of the duct means which enters the tentering device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the mouth of each of the airconduits is oriented eountercurrently to the material exiting from theduct.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said tentering device includes apinning-in zone and shielding members located within said housing andthe pinning-in zone is separated from the heating zone by said shieldingmembers.

11. An apparatus comprising a sieve drum device operatively associatedwith a tentering device, wherein a textile material which has beenheated up uniformily over its width by passing heated air therethroughon at least one sieve drum means within said drum device is subsequentlyheld stretched to the desired width by said tentering device, thetentering device including a housing which is separate from the sievedrum device and which is arranged behind the sieve drum device at adistance therefrom and a tentering means disposed in said housing, saidtentering means including two laterally displaceable rows of tenteringchains and a heatinsulated chamber within said housing for heat treatment of said textile material, said tentering chains ex tending linearlythrough said heat-insulated chamber and then subsequently outside saidheat-insulated chamber, a cooling unit outside of said heat-insulatedchamber for quench-fixing the textile material held along its edges inits desired width by said tentering chains, the cooling unit comprisinga sieve drum under a suction draft around which said tentering chainsare wrapped before returning to said heat-insulated chamber, and meansfor separating said cooled textile material from said tentering chainsoutside of said heatinsulated chamber.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the sieve drum of said coolingunit is looped around by the matethrough said heat-insulated chamber andthen subsequently outside said heat-insulated chamber, a cooling unitfor quench-fixing the textile material held along its edges in itsdesired Width by said tentering chains, said cooling unit comprising thesieve drum device having a sieve drum under a suction draft around whichsaid tentering chains are wrapped before returning to saidheat-insulated chamber, and means for separating said cooled textilematerial from said tentering chains located outside of saidheat-insulated chamber.

1. An apparatus comprising a sieve drum device having a treatmentchamber and at least one sieve drum means disposed in said treatmentchamber, said sieve drum device being operatively associated with atentering device, wherein a textile material which has been heated upuniformly over its width by passing heated air therethrough on said atleast one sieve drum means within the treatment chamber of said drumdevice is subsequently held stretched to the desired width by saidtentering device, the tentering device including a housing which isseparate from the sieve drum device and which is arranged behind thesieve drum device at a distance therefrom, a tentering means disposed insaid housing, and a pinning-in means for pinning the textile material tosaid tentering means, said pinning-in means being located near saidtentering means in a pinning-in zone within said housing; means fortransporting said textile material from said sieve drum device to saidtentering means; duct means for surrounding the textile material on itsway to said tentering means via said means for transporting said textilematerial, said duct means being heat-insulated and being arranged toextend from the sieve drum device to the tentering means so that theduct means, the sieve drum device, and the housing of said tenteringdevice define a space therebetween for operating personnel; an accessopening in the housing leading to said pinning-in zone, and means forsealing said opening during operation of said pinning-in means and forpermitting operating personnel access to said pinning-in means during adisturbance of the pinning operation.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the means for sealing said opening is a flap vacating thepinning-in zone.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the flap has awindow which is made of a transparent material.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the tentering device includes sieve drum means with atentering chain extending therearound.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4,wherein control means for compensating for skewing or bowing of thetextile material are provided in front of the sieve drum means of thetentering device.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said controlmeans comprise means associated with and underneath the textile materialin parallel therewith.
 7. An apparatus comprising a sieve drum deviceoperatively associated with a tentering device, wherein a textilematerial which has been heated up uniformily over its width by passingheated air therethrough on at least one sieve drum means within saiddrum device is subsequently held stretched to the desired width by saidtentering device, the tentering device including a housing which isseparate from the sieve drum device and which is arranged behind thesieve drum device at a distance therefrom and a tentering means disposedin said housing; means for transporting saiD textile material from saidsieve drum device to said tentering means and duct means for surroundingthe textile material on its way to said tentering means, said duct meansbeing heat-insulated and being arranged between the sieve drum deviceand the tentering device, said tentering device including a heatingsection and a treatment section, and air conduits extending from theheating section to the duct means which communicates with the sieve drumdevice for introducing heated air from said heating section into saidduct means and into said sieve drum device.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the air conduits are extended into an outlet zone of the ductmeans which enters the tentering device.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8,wherein the mouth of each of the air conduits is orientedcountercurrently to the material exiting from the duct.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein said tentering device includes apinning-in zone and shielding members located within said housing andthe pinning-in zone is separated from the heating zone by said shieldingmembers.
 11. An apparatus comprising a sieve drum device operativelyassociated with a tentering device, wherein a textile material which hasbeen heated up uniformily over its width by passing heated airtherethrough on at least one sieve drum means within said drum device issubsequently held stretched to the desired width by said tenteringdevice, the tentering device including a housing which is separate fromthe sieve drum device and which is arranged behind the sieve drum deviceat a distance therefrom and a tentering means disposed in said housing,said tentering means including two laterally displaceable rows oftentering chains and a heat-insulated chamber within said housing forheat treatment of said textile material, said tentering chains extendinglinearly through said heat-insulated chamber and then subsequentlyoutside said heat-insulated chamber, a cooling unit outside of saidheat-insulated chamber for quench-fixing the textile material held alongits edges in its desired width by said tentering chains, the coolingunit comprising a sieve drum under a suction draft around which saidtentering chains are wrapped before returning to said heat-insulatedchamber, and means for separating said cooled textile material from saidtentering chains outside of said heat-insulated chamber.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 11 wherein the sieve drum of said cooling unit islooped around by the material held between the tentering chains with anangle of more than 180* .
 13. An apparatus comprising a sieve drumdevice operatively associated with a tentering device, wherein a textilematerial is held stretched to a desired width by said tentering device,the tentering device including a housing and a tentering means disposedin said housing, said tentering means including two laterallydisplaceable rows of tentering chains and a heatinsulated chamber withinsaid housing for heat treatment of said textile material, said tenteringchains extending linearly through said heat-insulated chamber and thensubsequently outside said heat-insulated chamber, a cooling unit forquench-fixing the textile material held along its edges in its desiredwidth by said tentering chains, said cooling unit comprising the sievedrum device having a sieve drum under a suction draft around which saidtentering chains are wrapped before returning to said heat-insulatedchamber, and means for separating said cooled textile material from saidtentering chains located outside of said heat-insulated chamber.